Sports
Hockey

Ducks-Blackhawks a heavyweight battle

Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks and Andrew Shaw #65 of the Chicago Blackhawks get involved after the whistle in the second period of Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center on May 23, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images/AFP)

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It has become a heavyweight battle, a war of wills, and a test of one distinct, entertaining style of hockey vs. another.

And you get the feeling that despite the fatigue brought on by almost five periods of overtime hockey through the first four games of the Western Conference finaL that the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks are both in “bring it on mode.”

To a man, after their 5-4, double OT loss at the United Center on Saturday, Ducks players talked about how their relentless hitting is going to wear the Blackhawks down and pound them into submission.

The Hawks, meanwhile, vow that speed and skill will triumph and they, too, intend to go out and prove it beginning with Game 5 here at the Honda Center on Monday night.

In a series that has yielded no measurable advantage to either side or style, both teams are ready to duke it out now that the series is tied at 2-2 and thus reduced to a best-of-three.

“We’re just going to keep with our game plan,” Ducks centre Ryan Kesler said Sunday afternoon, shortly after the team landed back here in Southern California. “It’s going to wear them down. No human can withstand that many hits.

“We’re going to keep banging out there and going after them.”

Oh yeah, say the Blackhawks? Well take this.

“That’s their game, being physical,” Chicago forward Bryan Bickell said on Sunday, the day before a Memorial Day contest that could indeed be memorable. “Our game is speed, being patient. We’re wearing them down, too. Hopefully, we keep that up come (Monday).

“Every shift, every period is getting heated up in this situation. It’s just two teams that are passionate to win and will do whatever it takes.”

The mild war of words aside, the two teams are clearly engaged in a series two close to call. Each of the four games could have gone the other way, even the Ducks 4-1 victory in the opener. And despite a three-goal outburst in 37 seconds on Saturday, plus some dominant play in overtime, the Ducks couldn’t snag the commanding 3-1 series lead.

“This series is pretty amazing when you look at the four games,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Very close, very competitive.

“Trying to win the Cup has some amazing swings, highs and lows, twists and turns. The deeper you go in games, the deeper you get it a series, it’s all the more challenging. We love our group’s experience and know-how. (Saturday night) was a great demonstration of that.”

In many ways, the conference final has been the latest example of why the West has been best in recent years. The Ducks seem to have modelled themselves after the reigning champion Kings, their SoCal rivals. The Blackhawks just keep on doing what they have been doing under the leadership of Quenneville and captain Jonathan Toews, a formula and a core group that already has won two championships this decade.

And both are supremely confident in winning a series that Vegas bookmakers give the slightest of edges to Anaheim, based solely on their home-ice advantage.

The Ducks believe the three-goal spree on Saturday, which gave them a 4-3 lead they would ultimately squander, turned Chicago goalie Corey Crawford into a dude who looked like he was allergic to frozen black rubber.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, feel they may have finally solved Anaheim goaltender Freddie Andersen, who has been brilliant throughout this postseason and held Chicago to one goal in Games 1 and 3 and three in the triple OT classic in Game 2.

“You see that he is kind of human because he has been standing on his head of late,” Bickell said.

On one side, you have a Ducks squad that has yet to lose a regulation-time game these playoffs, one building in confidence under coach Bruce Boudreau, who is two wins way from the first Stanley Cup final berth of his long and winding career as a coach and player.

On the other, you have a Chicago squad that is 16-0 in a series after it is tied 2-2 with Quenneville as coach, 8-0 on the road, 8-0 at home. The Ducks seem to get better the deeper a game goes, the Blackhawks find their best the deeper a series goes.

“You’ve just got to get angry and go after it,” Boudreau said. “We know these are two good teams and the games are going to be close. “We’ve just got to be the one that comes out on top.

“I think (the Hawks) know they’re in a series. I mean, I don’t think they’ve had it very easy. It’s our job to continue to make them feel that way.”